Main Points
- Five main parties in Northern Ireland meet the Northern Secretary Chris Bryant separately on Sunday evening on Drumcree parade dispute
- The PSNI has told the Orange Order not to march down the Garvaghy Road amid a blockade by protesters
- A Belfast court overturned a temporary injunction barring Orange Order from parading down predominantly nationalist road in Portadown late on Saturday
- First Minister Michelle O’Neill said this morning’s events “bring into question how this whole peace process works”
- The DUP criticised O’Neill’s reaction, with leader Gavin Robinson claiming she’s “breaking the law” by standing with protesters
- Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the original decision to allow the parade was “incomprehensible and wrong”
- NI Secretary Chris Bryant said the ruling allowing the march must be respected
Key Reads
- ‘It’s like going back in time’ – after 28 years, communities stand off on Garvaghy Road
- Claim Orangemen must march on Garvaghy Road because of tradition ‘a nonsense’, former SF staffer says
- Decades after flashpoints of the 1990s, Drumcree is just as dangerous
- Drumcree dispute led to one of worst Troubles atrocities
- Drumcree dispute overshadows last UUP conference before Stormont election
- Orange Order march could ‘reawaken old animosities’, Drumcree residents warn
‘We haven’t got a solution yet,’ says secretary of state
Secretary of state for Northern Ireland Chris Bryant told the BBC “we haven’t got a solution yet” after holding discussions with all the main political parties separately.
“There’s a few ideas around about things we might be able to do and I’m happy to explore those and I’ll continue those conversations tomorrow,” he said.
He said he has spoken twice with First Minister Michelle O’Neill on Sunday evening.
“I have made it very clear that I think it is important that we get to a resolution and we need to find some kind of compromise so that people are able to go home.”
He urges “everybody to keep calm” and says it is “very important that people co-operate with police” both at Drumcree and across Northern Ireland.
When asked by a journalist about the DUP leader Gavin Robinson’s comments that her presence at the protest was unlawful, Michelle O’Neil said: “I stand with the people of the Garvaghy Road today and every day.”
Another school to close in Portadown on Monday
St. John the Baptist’s College in Portadown will also close on Monday.
In a post on Facebook, the school said, “in the interest of everyone’s safety and the escalating situation on the Garvaghy Road this afternoon, the decision has been made to close the school, tomorrow.”
Priority must be ‘on de-escalation,’ says SDLP leader
SDLP leader Claire Hanna has said the situation on the Garvaghy Road “urgently needs to be de-escalated”.
Speaking ahead of meeting the secretary of state Chris Bryant this evening, she urged him to “use every avenue available to him to stop this parade and take this dispute off the street and into a structured process of dialogue”.
“The extraordinary courtroom drama of the past 48 hours should give nobody confidence that this situation is as straightforward as some have suggested,” she said.
“A High Court judge made clear that the concerns of all parties needed to be properly heard. Whatever the legal position, there remains an important distinction between what can legally happen and what should happen.
”The priority, she said, must be on de-escalation.
“Dialogue must replace stand-off, light must replace heat, and political leaders need to think carefully about their words and actions as we navigate the days ahead,” she said.
“The answer is not, and never has been, to collapse Stormont.”
‘It’s like going back in time’ – after 28 years, communities stand off on Garvaghy Road
Marie-Therese Murray approached police lines on Portadown’s Garvaghy Road at 7.40am on Sunday morning holding a placard of her child who died nearby 30 years ago, reports Northern Correspondent Seanín Graham.
Behind her, thousands of protesters linked arms in torrential rain to block a planned Orange Order march from Drumcree church.
It was due to begin 20 minutes later.
“Please, please stop this for the children of both communities ... we don’t want no more violence,” Murray pleaded, sobbing.
Read the full article here.
There is no sense for now that anything will kick off at the Drumcree side tonight, reports Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy.
There are plenty of supporters but equal numbers leaving, and zero tension so far.
Numbers at Drumcree church are steady, in the low hundreds, with constant replacements.
The PSNI have removed the officers who were on duty at a country road leading up the church. However, the PSNI could not confirm why this had happened for now.
There are no signs that there will be any attempt to breach the PSNI lines.
Gerry Adams among those visiting Garvaghy Road residents
In a post on X, Sinn Féin shared that Adams had visited the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.
“Sinn Féin stands with the Garvaghy Road residents in rejecting supremacist orange marches which have no support in this community,” the post read.
Secretary of state has ’24 to 48 hours to ensure the rule of law is upheld,’ says DUP MP
DUP MP Carla Lockhart said, after leaving party’s meeting with secretary of state Chris Bryant, that he is “in no doubt about the urgency” of the situation.
“He has 24 to 48 hours to ensure the rule of law is upheld and the parade proceeds in line with the Parades Commission’s determination,” the MP for Upper Bann said in a statement posted on Facebook.
She said the consequences will be “profound” if the parade is not allowed to go ahead.
The party, she said, remained “four square” with the Portadown Orangemen and “the rule of law”.
“Mob rule cannot defeat the rule of law,” she said.
First Minister asks supporters to stay until ’12 o’clock tonight at least’
Addressing supporters on the Garvaghy Road, First Minister Michelle O’Neill thanked those for staying on the road and “going the course over the last day and a half”.
“This march cannot go ahead, and the reason that it hasn’t went ahead is because of your determination, is because you have stood on this road with these people, and we will continue to stand on this road,” she said, standing beside Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
“We will not let those aggressive forces drive us backwards.
“We will not let people bring us back to the harder times and the dark days of the past. We will keep driving forward.
“The reason that the parade has not come down this road thus far is because you are here, and we need you to stay the course.
“We need you to stay here ‘til 12 o’clock tonight at least.
“Do not give up at this stage; we have come this far.
“The people of Garvaghy Road need us to stand with them tonight,” she said.
More photographs from the Garvaghy Road
School on Garvaghy Road to close on Monday
St John the Baptist PS Bunscoil Eoin Baiste, an Irish-medium primary school located on the Garvaghy Road, has made the “difficult decision” to close the school on Monday, September 28th, “in the interest of everyone’s safety and due to the continuing situation on the Garvaghy Road”.
In a post on Facebook, the school said: “The safety and wellbeing of our pupils, families and staff must always be our first priority and we feel that closing the school is the most responsible course of action in the uncertain circumstances.
“We appreciate that this decision may cause inconvenience for families and sincerely apologise for the short notice. We thank you for your understanding and co-operation.”
It said it will “continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep parents informed of any further developments or arrangements”.
Parades Commission was ‘utterly wrong’ to allow march on Garvaghy Road, says Scottish Greens spokeswoman
Reports that Scottish police were deployed at a controversial parade in Northern Ireland on Sunday have been described as “deeply concerning” by the Scottish Greens, who called for the agreement underlying it to be reviewed.
The party’s justice spokeswoman, Maggie Chapman, said the Orange Order march on Garvaghy Road in Portadown was “designed to spread tensions and hatred”, and that the Parades Commission was “utterly wrong” to allow it to go ahead.
She said Scotland should not provide policing resources for events that “inflame tensions”, and called for the Scottish government to review the policing agreement to ensure officers were not deployed to such events in future.
The North East Scotland MSP also said she had raised the issue in a letter to justice secretary Neil Gray on Friday but had not received a response.
Chapman said: “This march was designed to spread tensions and hatred and to intimidate the community and families who are trying to get on with their lives.
“The organisers knew exactly what they were doing, and the Parades Commission was utterly wrong to allow it.
“It is deeply concerning that Police Scotland officers were deployed to support policing around a march that caused such fear and division.
“The Scottish Government must be transparent about what role Scottish officers played, what resources were committed, and whether they think this agreement is appropriate.
“Scotland should not be providing policing resources for sectarian events like this that are called to inflame tensions.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “The deployment of police officers on mutual aid is an operational matter for the chief constable.
“Mutual aid arrangements between forces are a longstanding feature of policing, which help to ensure that all forces are equipped to respond to major incidents or to cope with particular periods of high demand.”
Police Scotland has been approached for comment. - PA
PSNI vehicles block the road at the bottom of the hill down from the church on the way to Garvaghy Road, less than half-a-mile from it, reports Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy.
The five main parties expected to meet the secretary of state separately this evening
A DUP delegation led by party leader Gavin Robinson has arrived at Hillsborough Castle to meet the secretary of state, Chris Bryant, about the developing stand-off at Drumcree, the BBC reported.
Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson and North Belfast MLA Nuala McAllister have also gone inside Hillsborough Castle for their meeting with Bryant.
SDLP MP calls on secretary of state to ‘step in’
The SDLP MP Colum Eastwood has called on Northern Ireland secretary Chris Bryant to “step in” and end the Garvaghy Road parade crisis.
Bryant said on multiple occasions on Sunday that he does not have the power to call off the parade without a request from the PSNI chief constable, Jon Boutcher.
Eastwood claimed there could be a route for Bryant to intervene decisively with the “risk of disorder”, which is now present “in every town” in Northern Ireland, providing him with a potential legal underpinning for the secretary of state.
Bryant cut his participation in the Labour conference in Liverpool short on Sunday to go to Belfast, immediately calling for “compromise”.
Eastwood said: “I have personally, forcefully, said to Chris Bryant today ... and last night, and most days this week, that he has to step in. This decision [by the Parades Commission] is wrong, and he has a responsibility to take the heat out of this and just say we’re going to deal with this properly.”
He said Bryant had a “tough job”, but it was the one in “front of him”. - Guardian
Claim Orangemen must march on Garvaghy Road because of tradition ‘a nonsense’, former SF staffer says
Orange Order members seeking to march down the Garvaghy Road should follow the example of a Belfast lodge that unilaterally decided to abandon a march down Belfast’s Falls Road 60 years ago, Sinn Féin’s former director of publicity has said, writes Southern Correspondent Barry Roche.
Danny Morrison said the claim by the Portadown District Loyal Orange Lodge that members were entitled to march from Drumcree Church down Garvaghy Road to Corcrain Orange Hall as it was the historic route did not stand up to scrutiny, as the order’s traditions have changed over time.
“I lived on the Falls Road before I moved to Broadway in Belfast in 1963 and the Orangemen were still marching on the Falls Road then,” he said. “They used to march from Sandy Road up Broadway to the Broadway Presbyterian Church on the junction with the Falls Road.
Read the full article here.
Concern that Stormont executive will collapse amid escalation of tensions over the Drumcree parade raised by SDLP member
An SDLP member of Northern Ireland’s assembly has said she is concerned that the Stormont executive will collapse amid escalation of tensions over the Drumcree parade.
“I don’t know if it will last until the end of the week,” she told a panel at the Labour party conference.
The MLA, from Derry, said the parade crisis had already raised the temperature across Northern Ireland with helicopters out in her city for the first time in a “long, long time”.
She described the ruling to allow the march as “senseless” and “abhorrent” and said it was “irresponsible” of unionism not to have walked the Orange Order away from the parade.
She questioned whether their “game plan” was to bring down the executive.
“At the minute, this instability and insecurity is in real danger of bringing down those institutions and the people at least can afford that are the people that are living in poverty in our communities and delivering living without proper public services,” she said. - Guardian
Orange Lodge members refused permission to march at 6pm by PSNI on public safety grounds
The 35 members of the Orange Lodge permitted to march on Garvaghy Road by the courts left the Drumcree church shortly before 6pm, but they were refused permission to go more than a 100 yards by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, who told them that they could not allow the marchers to go further on public safety grounds, reports Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy.
The marchers, led by Portadown No 1 LOL’s Worshipful District Master, Nigel Dawson, returned quietly to the church and went back into the church hall.
Dawson told The Irish Times that they may well do again this evening in a bid to keep up pressure to march on Garvaghy Road, which has not been allowed for nearly 30 years.
“We were attempting, as we did this morning at 8 (am), to exercise our rights given to us by the court, the High Court.
“The police have once again said the road is not available to us and that we can’t proceed because he wants to protect our safety, and that is fine.
“We’ll stay here until the police tell us it’s safe to go home,” said Watson.
Repeating his conversation with a senior PSNI commander, Dawson said he had been told: “He’s saying it’s public order. That’s what he said. Well, if we were to let you go down the road, we can’t guarantee our safety and therefore he has the legislation to say, ‘In order to protect you, I’m not letting you cross’.”
Asked if the lodge would follow through on the pledge made on their behalf earlier by Loyalist influencer and lawyer, Jamie Bryson, that they would “wait an hour, a day or 10 days” to exercise their court-ordered right to march, Watson said they had said repeatedly that they would “give space” to the PSNI to cater for the parade.
‘A time for calm and measured voices’, says the Methodist Church in Ireland
The Methodist Church in Ireland said the developments on the Garvaghy Road “threaten a return to tribal politics, division and unrest”,” in a statement.
“Over the last number of years we have seen many across society take significant and sacrificial steps to build a lasting peace. These last days threaten a return to tribal politics, division and unrest.
“It is a time for calm and measured voices.
“For the sake of the generations to come, we urge all parties to work to find a way forward which respects the traditions and identities of all.
“We make this call aware that this may involve sacrifice for the sake of the common good.
“We record our gratitude to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“We call on Methodists and all people of faith to recognise the image of God in everyone; to pray for others, especially when we differ; to work for peace, reconciliation and a society in which all know they are respected.”
Secretary of state declines to say if first minister broke the law
The UK government’s secretary of state for Northern Ireland declined to say whether First Minister Michelle O’Neill had broken the law by participating in a protest.
Chris Bryant was asked about DUP leader Gavin Robinson’s earlier claim that O’Neill had broken the law.
Bryant said: “I just want to make sure we have fully functioning, as normal as possible, executive and assembly, functioning, working, trying to deliver public services for the people of Northern Ireland.
“It’s not my job to decide whether somebody has or hasn’t broken the law; that’s a matter for others.
“All I would say is that everybody should be co-operating with the police at the moment. That is everybody.”
He added that those in public office had a “particular onus upon us to try and calm and bring temperate language to everything”. - Guardian
Decades after flashpoints of the 1990s, Drumcree is just as dangerous
For a generation of politicians, journalists and others, the Drumcree parades crisis of the 1990s was a bitter, often deeply unpleasant chapter that had been filed away, often as a bad memory best forgotten, writes Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy.
But it was never forgotten by Loyal Orange Lodge No 1 on Carleton Street in the town, which still carries many of the divisions of the Troubles.
Each Sunday since 1998 they held a token protest at Drumcree church on the hill to complain about being barred from marching on the Garvaghy Road.
Each year, the lodge submitted an application to march on the Sunday before the Twelfth of July on their traditional route from the church to Carleton Street. Each year, it was refused.
Read the full article here.
No one wants to ‘dismantle’ the Good Friday Agreement, says UK government’s secretary of state for Northern Ireland
“Nobody wants to go back to 28 years,” said Chris Bryant, the UK government’s secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
“I don’t think there is a single person involved in politics in Northern Ireland that really wants to go back 28, 30 years and relitigate everything and dismantle the Good Friday Agreement,” he told reporters in Belfast.
“I’m very determined that we will do everything to maintain that, but we need to make sure that we have resilience in the political system here.
“I think it’s all the more important that we have a Parades Commission that is fully functioning. Of course, these issues were litigated in court at length yesterday afternoon and through into the night.” - Guardian
PSNI ‘gathering the evidence’, says chief constable
The PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher said: “So whatever’s been happening, by whatever party, we’ve been gathering the evidence of what they’ve been doing.
“So we’ll deal with that at the right time.”
He said a successful conclusion to the current situation would be that “not one hair on one head gets harmed”.
He wants everybody to find “a place that they can, with dignity, walk away from the current situation”.
He said there needs to be a “longer-term conversation, which involves politicians and the people involved in what we’ve seen in the last 24 hours, trying to find a space that they can resolve these issues”.
Some photographs from the Garvaghy Road
The UK Government’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said he has spoken to the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs several times today, as a stand-off continues on the Garvaghy Road.
Christ Bryant arrived in Belfast this afternoon, having left the Labour Party conference in Liverpool early as tensions over the scheduled Orange Order parade through a largely nationalist area of Portadown, Co Armagh intensified.
While certain unionist politicians have called on the PSNI to investigate demonstrators gathered on the road intent to block the parade, Bryant said it is “not my job to decide whether somebody has or hasn’t broken the law”.
“All I would say is that everybody should be co-operating with the police at the moment,” he said, adding that “those of us who are in elected office have a particular onus on us to try and calm and bring temperate language to everything.”
“If there’s a way of finding a way through this, we want to be able to put ourselves at the service of others to be able to achieve that,” he continued.
“It is only compromise that is going to get us through these difficult moments,” he went on, adding “the resilience of the political system in Northern Ireland is really important, we’ve made so many strides, I feel so frustrated.”
While he said he feels “so frustrated” over the ongoing dispute, “we can get through this. There are decent people of good faith on every side of this argument.”
‘Too much is at stake’: Catholic and Protestant Archbishops issue joint call for people to ‘be good neighours to each other’
The Catholic and the Church of Ireland Archbishops of Armagh have issued a joint statement calling for an “inclusive and reconciling initiative” to be introduced urgently to find “a way through this current crisis.”
“Too much is at stake,” said Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell, who said they “feel deeply the concerns of the people of Drumcree and the wider community that we serve.”
“As our community faces the crisis in Drumcree today, in which so many sincere views, painful histories and important issues are at stake, we cannot think of any time in the last 30 years when this simple message needs to be more urgently heard,” they said.
“How can we be good neighbours to each other? What can we do to patiently, constructively and positively build on all the sincere and generous efforts over recent years to foster mutual trust and understanding among our different traditions?”
The archbishops said respect for the rule of law and the use of peaceful and democratic processes “are vital to a stable and democratic society, even when they are difficult and challenging”.
“We are willing to do all that we are asked to guide the feet of all, in the name, and after the example of Jesus, on the way of peace, and the building up of a better future for all. We call for the urgent creation of a constructive, inclusive and reconciling initiative to patiently find a way through this current crisis. Too much is at stake.”
Police must investigate ‘most senior’ people involved in Garvaghy Road blockage, UUP leader says
Senior Sinn Féin politicians, including First Minister Michelle O’Neill, should face investigation and prosecution for encouraging an illegal protest to block the Orange Order’s parade in Portadown, Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows has said.
“The PSNI must investigate what happened and follow the evidence wherever it leads, including to those in the most senior positions. Where offences are established, those responsible should face prosecution,” he said.
Burrows has called for “cool heads and calm language” as the stand-off continues. The UUP leader has up to now tried to separate himself from the more incendiary language used by the DUP over the blocked march by Orange Order members.
“Two things can be true at once: those who broke the law must be held to account, but we also need an urgent off-ramp to create space to resolve this situation. A prolonged confrontation risks damaging our peace, our economy and our stability, and putting police officers in harm’s way,” he said.
Burrows, a former PSNI officer, said he had spoken to Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and offered his full support as the force deals with an “exceptionally challenging situation”.
The ruling of the Court of Appeals, which in the early hours of Sunday granted the Orange Order permission to march, “should be respected lawfully” and “anyone with an issue should take it to court”, he said.
“The procession was permitted under a lawful determination, tested in court and upheld hours before it was due to take place,” he said.
“Blocking the road to prevent it is disgraceful and the apparent unnotified protest must also be investigated. For 28 years the Orange Order abided by determinations restricting its route. Had its members defied those determinations, they would rightly have faced the consequences. The law must apply equally today.”
Ulster Unionist Party politician and Northern Ireland’s Health Secretary Robbie Butler has called for “everyone to take a step back, lower the temperature and allow the PSNI to do its job”.
“We cannot afford more instability,” he said, adding “despite its flaws, devolution really does matter.”
“Politicians of every shade should be focusing on the budget crisis, not opening up another one and inflaming tensions over parading,” he said.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has called for “unanimous condemnation” of First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who he says is “breaking the law” by standing among demonstrators blocking the Orange Parade.
He added her Sinn Féin colleagues are “debasing themselves and debasing the office that they hold”.
“She’s the head of an Executive and she is prepared to wilfully disregard the ruling of our courts, the determination by the statutory body charged with determining parades in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“Those are fundamental questions for her and the pledge of office that is given and the law that sits behind that are important fundamentals that are being tested today by her actions, and they will be tested through sanctions as well.”
Robinson also expressed his “appreciation for the determined stance that the Portadown Orange men are taking”.
“They have shown discipline, they have shown patience and they have shown an unbridled determination to adhere to the rule of law,” he said.
“If it takes another 28 hours, if it takes another 28 days, they will show the same steadfast determination and patience and a willingness to uphold the law that they have demonstrated over the last 28 years.” - Additional reporting: PA.
Taoiseach: Decision to allow Orange parade on Garvaghy Road ‘incomprehensible and wrong’
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the decision of the Northern Irish Parades Commission to allow an Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road is “incomprehensible and wrong”.
Speaking at the annual Eamon de Valera commemoration in Ennis, Co Clare on Sunday, Martin urged calm on all sides as a standoff on the marching route continues, reports Jack Horgan-Jones.
“I’m very, very concerned with the situation,” he said. “First of all I find the original decision by the parades commission incomprehensible and wrong, because for 28 years we didn’t have a parade going down the Garvaghy road and most people anticipated that that situation would remain the same.”
The Taoiseach said the Government was monitoring the situation and appealed for calm “on all sides” given community relations had improved “immeasurably” in recent decades.
Martin continued: “We must all collectively now resolve not to go back to those divisions of the past, to see if we can mediate our way through this in a sensible way that protects the gains that have been made in terms of community relations and the peace and harmony that has prevailed for so long over so many years.”
Tánaiste Simon Harris said he is “following the events on the Garvaghy Road closely” and is “appealing for calm”.
“I had the chance also to engage with representatives of the community last week in Dáil Éireann and I know the pain and devastation this decision will have caused. I am deeply saddened that the community has found themselves in this situation,” he said.
“Nobody wants to see a return to the divisions, disorder and violence associated with this issue in the past. We have come too far to ever go back,” he went on, adding “he progress made in Northern Ireland over recent decades was hard won.”
“None of us should take that progress for granted, and none of us wants to see the divisions of the past reopened.”
Orange Order parade will go ahead even if it ‘takes 10 days,’ loyalist advocate insists
The Orange Order’s 35-strong parade through Garvaghy Road in Portadown will go through “if that takes an hour, if that takes a day, and if that takes 10 days”, loyalist barrister and influencer Jamie Bryson has said.
He was speaking following the PSNI’s early morning decision to not give marchers permission to march through the strongly-nationalist part of the Co Armagh town due to the presence of a large number of protesters, reports Mark Hennessy.
The decision not to allow the march to proceed reversed an earlier instruction given to the Orange local lodge master, Denis Watson just minutes before.
Bryson said the decision was “absolutely outrageous” and that he hoped “at some stage the judiciary will be making clear about that”.
“But the Portadown District will walk home peacefully, lawfully, 35 men. And if that takes an hour, if that takes a day, and if that takes 10 days, that does not matter. They are not going anywhere,” he said.
Bryson, who is not a member of the Orange Order but has spoken for it throughout this dispute, added: “It’s not an intention, it’s a matter of fact, the Portadown District will be completing a notified parade, which they have been lawfully entitled to. It’s been subject to not one, not two, but three legal challenges last night, and the Portadown District succeeded.
“This is 35 men, peacefully, lawfully, they’re in the church hall. There’s no mob here. Nobody’s acting violently. People in the town, in Portadown, are in good spirits. There’s nobody gathering in a violent or aggressive way. We said from the start, we started out that this was a question of law, and that’s the way we will continue to behave.”
Local DUP MP Carla Lockhart issued a sharp condemnation of First Minister and Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O’Neill, who she said is taking part in an illegal demonstration that had not been notified the PSNI under 30-year-old legislation that was set up to govern Northern Ireland’s marching season.
“We have a very serious situation where a First Minister who claims she’s first minister for everyone is acting unlawfully. It is time that she steps back and that she takes those who she’s leading onto the road unlawfully off the road and allows law and order to be upheld,” Lockhart told journalists when she spoke to them outside Drumcree Church shortly before 1pm.
“It is unreal that we have a First Minister behaving the way she is behaving. If I did it or if any of my colleagues did it, I would be in the back of a Land Rover,” Lockhart, who faced abuse from nationalist protestors gathered outside the Belfast High Court throughout Saturday when the case appeared before three sets of judges.
Criticising Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Bryson said she had “come fist-pumping outside our High Court” to wind up the gathered protesters, even though “she is not elected in this country”.
Defending the rights of the local Orange Order to march their traditional route from the Drumcree church to their headquarters in Carleton Street in the town, Lockhart said: “The folks in the hall behind you have had a seismic win in the courts. For 28 years, they have been denied their rights on this very hill. They have been here 52 weeks over the last 28 years in a dignified and peaceful manner.”
Gregory Campbell, the DUP MP for the East Derry constituency, has said “the one good thing that has emerged” from this weekend’s events is “any talk of an agreed island [or] shared Ireland… died” yesterday.
“That dream is now over as a result of yesterday’s shenanigans, with the Garvaghy Road residents and Sinn Féin pioneering the issues belonging to them,” he said on RTÉ Radio One.
“There’s been a dramatic change of circumstances in Northern Ireland over the past 30 years,” Campbell said, “there’s no prospect of people allowing anyone to turn us back to what happened 30 or 40 or 50 years ago – no prospect of that whatsoever.”
“This is a parade that should have been allowed 30 years ago, the Orange Order, to try to bring things to a head and resolve matters, reduced the numbers [of the march] significantly,” he said.
The MP went on to say that it was not “triumphalist” and would have gone through the Garvaghy Road early in the morning “when most people would be asleep”.
Also speaking on RTÉ Radio One, John O’Dowd, an MLA for Upper Bann, insisted “the people of the Garvaghy Road will not allow this Orange march through their community.”
The parade is “peppered with the history of violence, sectarianism, supremacy against this community,” he said, adding 2,000 people have poured on to the street “to ensure their rights are protected against the worst elements of sectarianism in the history of this State.”
Helen McEntee: ‘Those in leadership positions should deescalate the situation’
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said she was “following events on the Garvaghy Road closely” and “very concerned about the situation on the ground”.
“There has been significant progress in the past 30 years in relation to marches, and my primary concern is to avoid a return to the divisions of the past,” she said. “That is why it is the responsibility of those of us in positions of leadership to act responsibly and de-escalate the situation.”
The Minister said she was “conscious of the fears and concerns” of the Garvaghy Road residents and that officials from the department had engaged closely with them over the past week.
“I am also in close contact with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Bryant and we both believe that people across Northern Ireland do not want to return to the divisions of the past,” she said.
“I will continue to engage closely with the British government, the parties in Northern Ireland, and people on the ground over the coming days.”
Irish Times Northern Correspondent Seanín Graham is on the Garvaghy Road now, as the PSNI issues a warning to demonstrators that they are committing an offence by preventing the Orange Order from marching through the area.
DUP politician: ‘Mob rule’ at play as Orange Order not able to march down Garvaghy Road
DUP politician Jonathan Buckley described those blocking the Orange Order from marching down the Garvaghy Road as being “led by mob rule”, adding they are attempting “to upend what was a lawful decision by the courts.”
Speaking to reporters in Portadown, his colleague Carla Lockhart, a DUP MP, said “it is very clear, we have a First Minister that has went far beyond her remit in terms of the rule of law.”
“It is fundamental that our democratic process works and that our leaders uphold the law – and we have someone who is very clearly not upholding the law and leading people onto a street in an illegal manner,” Lockhart said.
Appearing alongside the two elected representatives was Jamie Bryson, a prominent voice in the loyalist community, who described Sinn Féin’s actions as “absolutely scandalous” and “defying the court”.
The chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, the representative body of which all PSNI officers are members, has appealed to those who wish to protest “to do so in a lawful, measured and ultimately peaceful manner.”
“I remind those who disagree with or oppose the decision and procession that they, too, must comply with the law,” Liam Kelly said.
He also called for politicians and community representatives “to dial down the rhetoric and work constructively to calm heads to help ensure that our officers can safely carry out their duties.”
“Our officers will police the outworkings of this Judgement without fear or favour. Their job will be to maintain the rule of law and see that there is full compliance with the Parades Commission determination,” he said.
Alliance leader: ‘All so utterly, utterly unnecessary’
The leader of the Alliance Party has said this weekend’s events have been “all so utterly, utterly unnecessary and predictable.”
Naomi Long, who sits in Stormont, said her thoughts are with members of the PSNI “who are yet again placed in an impossible position”.
Alliance’s deputy leader, Eóin Tennyson, said “people are in utter despair that this is where we are as a society this morning.”
“Reopening the Pandora’s box of Drumcree has only caused huge hurt and has raised tensions to a level not seen in years,” he said, adding “we cannot relive the past. We must be capable of learning from it and finding a way to move forward together.“
“Our utmost priority must be the safety of all concerned. I am again appealing for calm, restraint and cool heads on all sides,” he said.
WATCH: Breandán Mac Cionnaith, head of Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, reacting to the overnight decision to overturn the ban on the Orange Order being allowed to march through Garvaghy Road. Video: Clodagh Kilcoyne.
The UK government’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said he will arrive in Belfast this afternoon, adding he wished “we weren’t in this position”.
“I wish we weren’t looking at relitigating things of the past. But the court decided that the adjudication, the determination of the Parades Commission stood. So it’s important that everybody abides by the law,” Chris Bryant told the BBC.
“I can imagine that lots of people didn’t sleep very well last night, not least because of course the court case was going on till very late into the night, till 2.30 in the morning,” he said.
“I know lots of people will be watching this very, very closely, including people who have long memories of things that happened 30 years ago, and people will be very nervous and anxious,” he continued.
He urged people in the Garvaghy Road area to “co-operate with the police.”
“I want everything to pass off as calmly as is possible,” he said. “I’m speaking to the police obviously on a regular basis throughout the day, and was last night as well, and so is my team.”
No violence or disorder thus far, says NI Chief Constable
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has said the police presence on the Garvaghy Road has “helped ensure there has been no violence or disorder” this morning.
“I am immensely grateful for all those voices who have already called for calm,” he said and urged “those with influence to encourage people to comply with the law and work with the police to keep everyone safe.
“We have an evidence gathering operation in place to detect any offences and will continue to do this throughout today,” Boutcher said, adding “police are engaging and working with all parties and will continue to do so.
“I’m unbelievably proud of my officers who, supported by mutual aid colleagues, are managing an exceptionally challenging situation.”
“It is incumbent on us all to come together at times like this to do all we can to preserve a peaceful Northern Ireland,” he said.
The leader of the DUP, Gavin Robinson, has said Michelle O’Neill has a “duty” to “uphold lawful decisions, not inflame opposition to them” as First Minister.
“The rule of law cannot apply only when Sinn Féin likes the outcome. Our institutions are founded on respect for the police, the courts and the rule of law,” he said.
Robinson continued: “The legal position is now unequivocal. 35 Orangemen can walk in silence along Garvaghy Road. The Court of Appeal found that the injunction had been granted in error, and the High Court subsequently confirmed that the Parades Commission determination must be respected.”
“Yet Michelle O’Neill described that outcome as ‘disgraceful’, claimed an Orange procession was being ‘forced’ through the area and declared, ‘There is no going back. Not tomorrow. Not ever’.
“The Orangemen of Portadown have conducted themselves with dignity and respect for the rule of law for 28 years and once again have demonstrated their maturity today.” - Additional reporting: PA.
The Irish Government has said it “is monitoring the situation on the ground closely and will remain in contact with key interlocutors, including the Garvaghy Road residents.”
“The Government is very concerned about the situation,” it said in a statement, adding its “primary concern remains to avoid a return of the divisions of the past, recalling the significant progress made over many years in furthering reconciliation under the Good Friday Agreement.”
Elsewhere, British prime minister Andy Burnham has called for “calm on all sides”, saying “we don’t want to see things go backwards” as there have been “big gains made in Northern Ireland”.
It is a “tense” and “challenging situation today,” he said on the BBC’s political programme Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, “but it’s very important that we work to bring calm.”
Burnham said he had spoken to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant, on the issue as well as Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Saturday “because we work very closely together on all these matters.”
Michelle O’Neill: ‘This questions how peace process works’
First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said this morning’s events “brings into question how this whole peace process works.”
“The progress of the last 28 years has been brought into question by the actions of the Orange Order and those within political unionism who want to drag us backwards,” she continued.
“You’ve heard it here today,” O’Neill said while pointing in the direction of demonstrators, “you’ve heard people’s view of Stormont… in terms of politics working for them.”
“I’ll tell you what does not belong anywhere in our community is an Orange march ram-roaded down against the wishes of this community, that will not be tolerated anywhere,” she said.
“What I see here is a community under siege, once again retraumatised,” she said.
The First Minister said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has “serious questions to answer” about this morning’s events. “I think their judgment is seriously in question,” she said.andy
The Parades Commission also has questions to answer, she went on. “This is something that we were told weeks ago was a procedural error… so, what has changed to change this determination?”
Mary Lou McDonald: ‘Put a stop to this’
Speaking after the delay of the march, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said people gathered on the Garvaghy Road because they are “angry” and “devastated at what has happened”.
“They cannot countenance the idea that anybody would seek to set this place back almost 30 years and revisit the trauma that this community endured,” she said.
“They’re absolutely determined that this will not happen again, that there will be no way back, only steps forward.”
McDonald called on the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant, “to intervene” and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Jon Boutcher, to “put a stop to this”
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has dramatically told the Orange Order that it will not be able to march on Garvaghy Road in Portadown this morning, because there are too many Nationalist protestors on the road who are refusing to move, Mark Hennessy reports.
However, it is unclear whether the PSNI instruction means that the march will not take place at all, or is to be delayed for some hours, though Nationalists on Garvaghy Road have interpreted the police decision as a complete victory.
Nearly 1,000 Police Service of Northern Ireland officers equipped with water cannon are on duty in Portadown for the planned march by the Orange Order on Garvaghy Road, following a dramatic late-night clearance for the parade by the Court of Appeal in Belfast.
Police began to move shortly before 7am into both ends of Garvaghy Road with a small number of PSNI Land Rovers, who issued warnings to Garvaghy Road protestors that they were in breach of 1998 marching legislation because they had not given notice of their protest march.
More than a thousand local residents and supporters, including Sinn Féin TDs and People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, are on the road, insisting that they would peacefully protest and that they would have to be moved by the police.
Shortly after 7.30am, the small group of Orange Order members gathered at Drumcree’s Church of Ireland church had talks with a middle-ranking officer, who outlined how the march would be shepherded along the road: “When you tell us to go, we’ll go,” said one of the Order.
However, this was dramatically reversed within minutes when the PSNI returned to tell the Orange Order that they would not be allowed to march because there were too many protestors on Garvaghy Road who could not be forced off the road - sparking fireworks in celebration from nationalists.
Loud cheers erupted from the crowds on Garvaghy Road after being informed the Orange Order had left Drumcree.
The cheers were soon followed by chants of “Bring Stormont down” from some of the protesters. - Press Association
Carla Lockhart, a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of parliament who has attended court proceedings this weekend in support of the Orange Order, has said “there is nothing to fear” about the march.
“There is no threat, no triumphalism, not even music,” she posted on X alongside this photo of Orange men gathering.
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, stands before a line of demonstrators, linked arm in arm, who intend to block the Orange Order from marching through the area.
People have gathered in the area since the early hours of Sunday morning, not long after the Court of Appeals ruled that the march will go ahead.
In the minutes leading up to the Orange Order march’s scheduled start time, Marie-Therese Murray, whose 12-year-old son Darren was knocked down and killed after being chased by Loyalist demonstrators, was seen on the Garvaghy Road.
Northern Correspondent Seanín Graham has some of what she said.
Demonstrators have gathered on the Garvaghy Road from the early hours of Sunday morning. They are planning to block the Orange Order from marching through the area.
Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy is there now, where demonstrators are being told “organising or taking part in the protest is committing an offence and is liable to arrest and prosecution.”
The Orange Order is to march down the Garvaghy Road this morning. What decisions have brought us here?
35 members of the Orange Order is to march down the Garvaghy Road, a largely nationalist area in Portadown, Co Armagh, this morning for the first time in 28 years.
Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission has since 1998 not allowed the Order to do so following massive security operations and violent clashes between nationalist and unionist demonstrations in the 80’s and 90’s. Five people were killed in incidents linked to these tensions.
But the Commission on Friday afternoon granted an application by the Order to march down the Garvaghy Road – a move that was quickly challenged in the courts.
Belfast’s High Court on Saturday evening struck down the Commission’s decision, with Judge Patricia Smyth ruling the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate” across Northern Ireland.
But The Court of Appeals in the early hours of Sunday morning reversed this decision, allowing the Commission’s initial decision to stand. Judge Siobhan Keegan said her judicial colleague had “unfortunately erred in law”.
